Non-Folders Reactions to Your Origami

[ralchizar]

I did not mean to open a can of worms with the legal implications of selling Origami.
I could compare this to other more well established fields for legal implications (I like the paint by numbers analogy best) but all comparisons are imperfect.
Whatever your thoughts are on the subject, there is no clear legal precedent, and no direct laws governing it. And even if you are sure that you cannot do it, many do without any problems. For example etsy.com is full of examples of people who have been selling origami for years without repercussions.
Here is why I can and do sell origami: because I folded it and I am selling something I have created and I do give proper credit.

[WhisperPuffin]

Uh-oh, thread drift. I've got to put in my 2 cents anyway though. The best analogy to origami I've heard is cooking. I believe the rules should be the same as well. If you sell someone else's model/cake, it should be fine. But, if you say you came up with that model/cake, that's not allowed. Just my opinion, anyway.

[origami_8]

So, that was a nice end word by WhisperPuffin.

Now let us continue with the original topic that was "Non-folders reactions to your Origami".

When I sit in the Underground and fold often people stare at me in amazement. Given that I don't fold a special model that I need for someone else I often give it away to those who show the most interest. It also often happened that they asked me what I'm going to fold and sometimes this results in a nice conversation.
I'm not allowed to fold at work and I absolutely hate it when people say "you must have to much time on your hands". But most of the time the reactions I get are positive.

[unknownfolder]

I too hate when people say that I have too much time on my hands.

They assume that if I spend three hours folding a model I do the whole model all in one sitting. Most of the time I am interrupted by someone, have some prior commitment that I need to handle, or am hungry (I can't eat while I fold. Believe me I've tried ) Studies and chores take precedence over origami. I usually don't have three hours of free time anyway.

I also hardly ever fold without also watching television at the same time. I could watch TV for an hour and fold for an hour. Most people take time out of their day to watch their favorite program. I just fold while I do so. I don't have more time than others; I just ration my time well.

[GJ0KYZ]

I've had some positive reactions to stuff I've folded but some fairly indifferent ones as well. I'm beyond caring to be honest; if people don't like what I do then so what? As for this copyright nonsense, I think we need to get some perspective. I mean, we're talking about folded paper here not the secret ingredient to Coca Cola or the latest piece of software. I doubt more than a handful of us are making any real money from origami. The print run for even the most popular origami book won't be anywhere near that of the average novel. Whilst photocopying a book and putting it on Scribd is a clear infringement of copyright, making someone's model and selling it at your local fundraising event is hardly the crime of the century. I wonder how many of us could make anything good enough to sell anyway. Personally, I give all my stuff away, or, after a while throw it away (or my wife does), I always put the designer's name under the models on my Flickr page and am happy if I can fold something 80% as good as the original.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gj0kyz

[marvz]

Well it is fun to sell origami, but a hundred bucks a week is not much when that is all my folding for an entire week, because I have a phone job I can fold while I talk. No quitting my job for me.
I do sell other people's models, but just the ones that have a free diagram online (mostly because I am cheap). The legal implications are rather clear cut, I am selling my rendition of a freely available design. If I was selling the actual diagram that would be something different, but I am selling my own paper sculpture.

If I were you, I'm going to teach them how to fold those models instead

At topic:
People usually say at my foldings was:

"How Extravagant it is"
"Wow, Is it another creation of origami?"
"I think it is difficult to fold that"

Most people in our country do not know much about origami, they only know a simple traditional crane or anything else traditional. As a result, some of them do not know that origami is modern nowadays. Only few people (including me) who engage in this kind of art.

[Sara]

For me, reactions vary a lot.
I think my family smiles a bit at it. They're more on the side of "Well, if it helps you relax... that's wonderful". And that's fine. I don't understand all the hobbies my friends have, and it's often enough for me to see that it fulfills them.
Most of my friends are quite impressed by what I do. The most common questions are how long it takes me to do something, what paper size I started with, how hard it is, how long I've been into origami. Some ask me to teach them something, which I gladly do. Chances are they won't pursue origami after, but they do show an interest. And those that want to learn something often give me the impression of "getting" why I enjoy it.
By the way, almost all my friends are non-folders. My partner doesn't do origami either, but he supports my hobby. He was even the first to suggest that I should have a designated origami space in our new flat. [We've got high ceilings, so that he can juggle better inside - I guess we both have unconventional hobbies.]

Having said that, the reactions I get on YouTube vary a lot more. With the anonymity of internet you get harsher comments, the most favourite probably being that I have "no life". It does make me smirk to think which is a bigger waste of time: making instructional videos or watching random videos to comment badly about them. [Of course, anyone who knows me is aware that origami is not all I'm about.]

Finally, if I fold on the train, I do have people watching me. Sometimes they ask me what I'm folding. If I fold something while I'm on the way, I'll not take it with me. It might still end up in the bin, but once in a while I'm sure someone takes a liking to one of the folded models and gives it a new home.
Incidentally, this is also how I started with origami: folding models on a train ride (right after Christmas 2005), giving them to kids that were jumping around and telling me their favourite colours and animals. I only had a book I'd found in my partner's old bookshelf, so the selection was limited - but enough to put a big smile on a couple of kids' faces.

-- Sara

[petr-stuchly]

I too hate when people say that I have too much time on my hands.

They assume that if I spend three hours folding a model I do the whole model all in one sitting. Most of the time I am interrupted by someone, have some prior commitment that I need to handle, or am hungry (I can't eat while I fold. Believe me I've tried ) Studies and chores take precedence over origami. I usually don't have three hours of free time anyway.

I also hardly ever fold without also watching television at the same time. I could watch TV for an hour and fold for an hour. Most people take time out of their day to watch their favorite program. I just fold while I do so. I don't have more time than others; I just ration my time well.

this is ńearly the same what i do, but i am on pc. and i fold during watching a movie or i just have a screensaver and listen to the silent soung of my relaxing pc. maybe it is weird but the sound helps me to concentrate and to calm down

[Zoraz]

I can't fold with the tv, its too distracting, and the folds almost never come out in the right locations. I do listen to music though, and sometimes I have the computer on if I'm near it.
I have very rarely had someone tell me I have too much time on my hands.

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

I feel that often times people are not sufficiently impressed with my work. They're like, "oh, that's neat." And I'm like, "No, you dont understand. This was DIFFICULT. It took a specific set of skills that YOU DONT HAVE." I know that sounds elitest...but hey, I like to be recognized.

[petr-stuchly]

well. this is your way. but from my experience, you can impress public more if you say it is easy and then you show them how to fold a complex model it isn't anything special if you say it is difficult even for you, but when you show that folding a difficult model is your natural habitat, public will be twice more impressed

[Donya]

Having said that, the reactions I get on YouTube vary a lot more. With the anonymity of internet you get harsher comments, the most favourite probably being that I have "no life". It does make me smirk to think which is a bigger waste of time: making instructional videos or watching random videos to comment badly about them. [Of course, anyone who knows me is aware that origami is not all I'm about.]

I've been under the assumption that a lot of the strange negative comments on origami tutorials are due to complete beginners (or kids) trying something beyond their immediate ability, having difficulty, and choosing to take out their frustration in inappropriate ways. It's not very different from the handful of non-folders I've had show initial interest in learing a design face-to-face, only to dismiss the hobby as a stupid waste of time when they realize it's not as easy as they thought it would be. Fortunately, the people who are willing to do that without anonymity are very much in the minority, at least from my limited experience.

[legionzilla]

To non-folders, my origami pieces are disfigured monsters from mars.

[Henriq]

everyone gets very impressed with the ancient dragon on top of my monitor in my house, but in school the winners are a devil variant of a Neale's dragon , the waterbomb ("oh a square paper ball!") and pornorigami, which i dont like to fold but they beg it so much Oo
Video-Game people always reconises the monsters I do, but from, hum, let me say, "common" people says "oh a little birdy" about dragons and some even call it a cow

[dotcomma]

positive
"Woh, great! How did you do that?"
"Goddamn, you're good!"

negative
"I wish I could do something like that do."
"Something you did on some idle weekend?"
"Ya really got nothing to do at all, all day, uh?"